


Get Ready For... Human Rayla!

by Capns_scrolls



Series: TDP Spiderverse AU [2]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: But she's got some good friends to help out, Cut me some slack this fic is about three superpowered teens with two of them from other dimensions, Ellis is a chatterbox, Fitting In, Gen, I pretty much bullshat all the science stuff, Rayla is the only elf and she's pretty much lost in new york, Spiderverse AU, Talking about paradoxes, nothing is scientifically accurate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24067186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capns_scrolls/pseuds/Capns_scrolls
Summary: Being the only elf in New York has its challenges. Rayla's going to need to pass as a human sooner or later. Solution? Shopping.Another installment of my TDP Spiderverse AU.
Relationships: Aanya & Ellis & Ezran (The Dragon Prince), All platonic atm, Callum & Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: TDP Spiderverse AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709320
Comments: 9
Kudos: 11





	Get Ready For... Human Rayla!

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, not much to say, this is a short installment and the title and summary pretty much cover it.
> 
> This can be read stand-alone, but for context about how everyone came together, I recommend reading the first part of this ficlet series. This piece takes place about 5 days after the first part. No superhero-ing in this one, sadly.

Between the two new spider people in New York, one was having a particularly tough time.

It was a whole new setting. One completely foreign that she would never be able to imagine in her wildest dreams. The nights were as bright as the days, the stars near impossible to see, noise flooding every aspect of life no matter what time it was.

It was new, but it was  _ so different _ that she couldn’t begin to compare it to Xadia.

However, there was one that Rayla picked up on.

There were no elves or dragons in this land. As far as she could tell, magic was also absent.

Sure, the inhabitants looked quite a bit like elves, but there were exceptions. Their ears were rounded at the top, and none of them had horns. It took her longer to notice, but she also discovered that they had an extra finger on each hand.

Needless to say, blending in would be a challenge. Especially since she was considered a ‘mythical being’ to this universe’s inhabitants. For the time being, Rayla was in the clear. Aanya reminded the gang that a comic convention was going on that weekend, so it was easy enough to brush off the elf’s strange attire and bodily features as a costume. As far as her eight fingers, well, unless Rayla planned on wearing gloves and a false finger for the entirety of her indefinite stay, not much could be done to hide them.

It wouldn’t be until after the weekend was over that Rayla would need to actively hide her ears and horns. Ellis was way too excited to go shopping, and Aanya tagged along to make sure the overeager blackette stayed within a reasonable budget. Callum joined them since he would be needing clothes, too. His initial idea to steal them from himself was dropped when Ezran brought it to his attention that this universe’s Callum wasn’t quite as muscular. Ergo, none of the clothes would fit.

The team was mindful to take the least-busiest hour of the subway system, the less eyes there were on an elven woman and a disheveled, pajama-clad spiderman, the better. Ellis didn’t hesitate to use the travel time to ask every question that came to her mind.

“So what’s it like? Your universe, I mean. It sounds so  _ cool!  _ Are there humans there, too? Or just elves?”

Rayla’s face contorted slightly in confusion. “Humans?”

“You know, someone like me, Aanya, Ezran or Callum,” she gestured to herself and the others as she mentioned them, “or… anyone really. With the ‘ugly ears’ as you put it.”

Rayla smirked a bit, remembering the funny reactions that everyone had when she made that remark.

“Oh, yeah, no humans in my world.”

“It’s fascinating that we can even speak the same language! I mean, any language elves speak is usually indecipherable to people in stories and legends, and we’re both from worlds where the other doesn’t exist!”

“Yep,” Rayla said dismissively, taking in the zipping lights outside the windows of the subway car.

Rayla didn’t quite understand how she arrived in this place. Aanya and Ellis tried explaining it to her, but no matter how they described it, it just didn’t click with Rayla. It probably didn’t help that Aanya and Ellis couldn’t fully explain it themselves, either.

They had identical reactions when Rayla tried to explain magic to them, so it was even in the elf’s mind.

“Are humans a legend in Xadia? Like how elves are to us?” Ezran spoke up after an awkward pause.

“Not any legend that I know of.”

“Huh,” Callum said as Ellis pouted in thought. “You’d think that our universes would have  _ some  _ similarities.”

“I doubt that,” Rayla said with the smallest hint of a sad smile. “From what I’ve seen, our worlds couldn’t be any more different.”

“Suit yourself,” Ellis shrugged, “but now that we know there’s more than one, I think every universe has at least one parallel. Otherwise, a pattern couldn’t be made and the portals wouldn’t reach.”

“Parallel means to continue on in the same direction at different points in space and never meeting,” Aanya said. “If the universes truly were parallel, the portal would never reach because there’s no place where they intersect on the continuum.”

“I think I understood three of those words,” Callum said to the blonde. “But, most of the things here are very close to my universe. Some of the brands and products are different, but the layout of the city is pretty close to home.”

Ellis was about to speak again when Rayla cut her off. “Paradoxical discussions later, this convention Ellie keeps going on about won’t last forever. I need a disguise, and I need it soon.”

“Good timing, ‘cause we’re here!” Ellis chirped.

As if on cue, the subway screeched to a halt and the doors slid apart.

The four of them walked up the stairs that led to the street, two blocks later, they made it to the clothes shop. Perfectly within budget, and exactly the kind of store that was Ellis’ expertise.

Well, she wasn’t an  _ expert _ , but she was excited and everyone let her have this moment.

It was awkward for Rayla, but seeing Ellis this happy to be helping her was… something she didn’t have a lot of at home. Not recently anyway. It was a nice change of pace.

First things first.

Hats.

Lots of them.

All of them were a few sizes too big and most of them were very large. After trying on nearly every hat in the store large enough to cover her horns and ears, Rayla found herself being the most fond of the beanies and berets.

Rayla didn’t really have any words to describe the clothes that humans wear.

She might have called it weird, but disguises were a common part of her job, so if she thought of the selection Ellis picked out for her as another work disguise, it didn’t bother her as much. The bagginess of the clothes was something she wasn’t as accustomed to, though.

Ellis made sure to find clothes that matched with the hats that Rayla chose. Having the elf decide which clothes to get proved frustrating, since Rayla felt like all the articles were the same. A shirt was a shirt, no matter the style or which store section it came from. As long as she could move easily and it could hide her stealth suit underneath. Rayla wasn’t nearly as concerned with style as she was with practicality, which could risk her possibly standing out when she needed to stay hidden. Thankfully, Ellis was there to help with that.

Callum met them when Rayla was still deciding which to buy. Ellis, Aanya and Ezran had managed to scrape together enough money for Rayla and Alternate Callum to purchase 5 outfits each and a pair of sneakers for the former of the two. When he saw the four of them, Rayla exited the dressing room in the latest getup the other three pulled from the shelves.

Rayla donned a pair of blue jeans with an oversized solid color sweater that matched the beanie on her crown. She flexed her limbs and did a few battle poses, making sure they were able to move comfortably, which they did. The outfit was perfect, except for one thing.

“The sleeves are too long.”

“Your hands reach the ends just fine,” Ezran said.

“It’s not my hands I’m worried about,” Rayla said. “It’s my charms.”

“Charms?” the four of them asked in unison.

“My ‘bracelets’ that Callum was ogling at earlier,” Rayla said as she rolled up her sleeves. “Well, sort-of bracelets.”

Callum laughed nervously. “Hey, I was not ‘ogling’. I was admiring.”

She raised a snow-white eyebrow. “Sure.”

Ellis sighed. “Alright, duly noted, make your wrists visible. I’ll find a few more tops from you to choose from and then we’ll check out.”

The rest of the trip was a success, even the cashier who rung up their purchase complimented Rayla on her costume, to which the elf played along flawlessly. Rayla said she wanted to change before they left the store, and each of them waited patiently as she went into the dressing room one more time.

She placed her elven clothes into the shopping bag and put on the oddly-textured human clothing, opting for the loose black shorts that went down to her knees and a somewhat form-fitting dark green shirt with a baggy black beanie on her head.

As she walked back to the doorway into the store again, she didn’t waste the opportunity to announce her arrival.

“Get ready for…-”

She charged out to the waiting area where the other four sat while waiting for her.

“Human Rayla!”

Ellis clapped excitedly with a wide smile. Aanya, Callum and Ezran followed suit.

“Alright, lunchtime.” Callum slapped his thighs as he stood up. “What’s everyone in the mood for?”

“I’m letting you all pick that one,” Rayla held her hands up in a surrendering gesture. “You’ve all picked good stuff to eat so far.”

The three teens agreed on their favorite burger joint and began to lead the way. Callum turned towards Rayla as they trailed behind the other three.

“Want to go find a salad bar somewhere after this? I’m not in the mood for more junk food. I get it’s cheaper and easier to get, but-”

“You had me at ‘salad’,” Rayla smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> If there's anything you'd like to see in this AU, please leave it in the comments.
> 
> I apologize for the poor writing quality, this series only exists to break my writer's block. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them in the comments.


End file.
